Our Impact
What We Have Built in Kenya
NurtureFirst's country work began in Kenya in 2022. In 2024, we conducted the most comprehensive mapping of Home-Based Childcare ever undertaken in the country.
What We Found
Working across Mombasa, Kisumu, and Murang'a counties, we documented:
providers caring for 21,784 children
of providers unregistered
with no access to information to support their work
only reported having awareness of available training, though 90% want it
want to connect to other providers
Source: NurtureFirst Kenya Mapping 2024.
This was the first mapping of Home-Based Childcare at this depth and scale in Kenya. The evidence confirmed what many suspected: HBCC is a large, functioning system operating almost entirely outside the reach of the services built to support it.
What We Built
Using the mapping data, NurtureFirst worked with national and county governments and community-based organisations to design and test interventions focused on quality, recognition, and Provider livelihoods.
We have achieved results that are both measurable and replicable.
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5,350 providers mapped, caring for 21,000+ children across three counties — Kenya's first ever sector-level data on HBCC, now actively shaping national policy
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24 percentage-point improvement in care quality in just four months, driven through co-designed quality pathways delivered through partners — not top-down inspection
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3× increase in median provider savings through a low-cost Village Savings and Loans Association model embedded in provider networks
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1,000+ providers in Kenya's formally registered National HBCC Providers Association — lobbying government, securing fee waivers, and shaping county-level planning
At the systems level:
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HBCC embedded in Kenya's draft National Children's Policy and forthcoming National Childcare Standards
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60% reduction in licensing fees in one county, secured by organised provider advocacy
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Three non-childcare partners have launched their own childcare portfolios using our model
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Mombasa County is rolling out our quality model independently through existing government structures — training delivered by government staff, coaching through Community Health Promoters
At the global level:
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We co-founded the Global HBCC Alliance alongside six partner organisations from Bangladesh, Colombia, South Africa, the UK, the United States and Vietnam — the first coordinating body for HBCC globally
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New funding has been attracted to HBCC as a field: a funder-commissioned landscaping study on HBCC in Europe, mobilised through global advocacy
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Our provider mapping methodology is being adapted for use in Colombia, and we are providing technical assistance to support the European landscaping work — early evidence that Kenya's model travels
Connected Globally
Our work in Kenya has impacts beyond our borders. Through the Global Home-Based Childcare Alliance, NurtureFirst connects these findings and models to partners around the world, contributing to the global evidence base for investing in Home-Based Childcare.
